Romney: Obama’s Economy Worse than Carter’s

Former Massachusetts GOP Gov. Mitt Romney doesn’t just think President Barack Obama’s stewardship of the economy is poor. The likely presidential candidate also thinks it is even worse than Jimmy Carter’s, at least by one measure.

“When Ronald Reagan ran for president in 1980, he hung the Misery Index around Jimmy Carter’s neck,” Romney writes in a Boston Herald opinion piece. That index consisted of unemployment and inflation.

Mitt Romney

“Today, we have a different set of ailments. Instead of unemployment coupled with inflation, we have a toxic blend of unemployment, debt, home foreclosures, and bankruptcies,” he says. “Their sum total is what we can call the Obama Misery Index. It is at a record high. Indeed, it makes even the malaise of the Carter years look like a boom.”

In other Romney-related news, Republicans’ effort to overturn the new healthcare law won't hurt a presidential bid by Romney, says House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, according to The Hill.

Conservative critics complain that the healthcare reform Romney pushed through as governor is similar to Obama’s.

But when asked on CNBC if the GOP attack against Obamacare will damage Romney’s presidential aspirations, Cantor said, "I don't think so."

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, another likely presidential candidate, also avoided criticizing Romney on healthcare in an appearance on Fox News Monday.

“I'm going to try to abide by Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment, which we are not going to talk negatively about other folks," he said.